2x40 Gbit/s Polarization Division Multiplexing With Bit Slot Synchronization

Polarization division multiplexing (PDM) can double the spectral efficiency of an optical transmission system. By means of simulation, the 2x40Gbit/s NRZ PDM system performance under polarization mode dispersion (PMD) and chromatic dispersion has been investigated. To realize the best performance, the bit slots of the two channels should be synchronized.     

Microsequencing of proteins recorded in human two-dimensional gel protein databases.

Sixty-six human proteins recorded in the master transformed human epithelial amnion cells (AMA) (55) and keratinocyte (11) two-dimensional gel protein databases have been microsequenced since the last publication of the AMA database (Electrophoresis 1990, 12, 989-1071). Coomassie Brilliant Blue stained protein spots cut from several (up to 40) dry gels were concentrated by elution-concentration gel electrophoresis, electroblotted onto polyvinylidene difluoride membranes and in situ digested with trypsin. The eluting peptides were separated by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), collected individually and sequenced. Computer searches using the FASTA and TFASTA programs from the Genetics Computer Group indicated that 29 of the analyzed polypeptides correspond to hitherto unknown proteins.     

Numerical solutions for steady viscous linearized flow between two finite rotating disks

Zusammenfassung Für die stationäre axisymmetrische Strömung einer zähen Flüssigkeit zwischen zwei rotierenden Platten und einem rotierenden Zylinder sind numerische Lösungen erhalten worden. Die Strömung wird durch eine kleine Differenz zwischen den Drehschnellen erzeugt, und die Navier-Stokesschen Gleichungen wurden linearisiert. Lösungen werden für die Reynolds-Zahlen 25, 75 und 200 angegeben.     

Elephant albumin: a multipurpose pheromone shuttle

(Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate (Z7-12:Ac) is present in the urine of female Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) approaching ovulation and functions as a female-to-male sex pheromone. Here we show that a significant fraction of the pheromone in the urine is bound to a protein, elephant serum albumin (ESA), and provide evidence for key physiological functions of urinary ESA. Our biochemical and behavioral experiments suggest a three-fold role of ESA in pheromone signaling: (1) transporting Z7-12:Ac from serum into urine; (2) extending the presence of the pheromone in the environment without hampering detection; and (3) targeting pheromone delivery to chemosensory organs through localized release of the ligand induced by a pH change. The exploitation of albumin in pheromone transport clearly distinguishes the elephant from other mammals studied, and complements the uniqueness of elephant anatomy, physiology, and behavior.     

Elastic moduli of multiblock copolymers in the lamellar phase

We study the linear elastic response of multiblock copolymer melts in the lamellar phase, where the molecules are composed of tethered symmetric AB diblock copolymers. We use a self-consistent field theory method, and introduce a real space approach to calculate the tensile and shear moduli as a function of block number. The former is found to be in qualitative agreement with experiment. We find that the increase in bridging fraction with block number, that follows the increase in modulus, is not responsible for the increase in modulus. It is demonstrated that the change in modulus is due to an increase in mixing of repulsive A and B monomers. Under extension, this increase originates from a widening of the interface, and more molecules pulled free of the interface. Under compression, only the second of these two processes acts to increase the modulus.     

Numerical solution of a Rayleigh-Taylor instability problem

The numerical solution of a Rayleigh-Taylor instability problem where an inviscid liquid of finite depth is accelerated into a gas of semi-infinite extent is obtained by transforming the irregular flow domain into a rectangular domain by a coordinate transformation. The free surface equation is solved by a Crank-Nicolson procedure. The boundary condition at the free surface for the velocity potential ø which contains the time derivative of ø is also treated by an implicit scheme. The numerical results agree well with those obtained by higher order perturbation analysis.     

IUCLID: an information management tool for existing chemicals and biocides

Because of the large number of chemicals to be risk assessed within the European Union, an electronic data reporting and management tool, IUCLID, was developed supporting all three steps of the risk assessment process, namely data collection, priority-setting, and risk assessment. This paper gives an overview of the IUCLID software, which has been updated and adapted to also be used for the notification phase of the Biocides Program of the European Commission.     

Sound source reconstruction using inverse boundary element calculations

Whereas standard boundary element calculations focus on the forward problem of computing the radiated acoustic field from a vibrating structure, the aim in this work is to reverse the process, i.e., to determine vibration from acoustic field data. This inverse problem is brought on a form suited for solution by means of an inverse boundary element method. Since the numerical treatment of the inverse source reconstruction results in a discrete ill-posed problem, regularization is imposed to avoid unstable solutions dominated by errors. In the present work the emphasis is on Tikhonov regularization and parameter-choice methods not requiring an error-norm estimate for choosing the right amount of regularization. Several parameter-choice strategies have been presented lately, but it still remains to be seen how well these can handle industrial applications with real measurement data. In the present work it is demonstrated that the L-curve criterion is robust with respect to the errors in a real measurement situation. In particular, it is shown that the L-curve criterion is superior to the more conventional generalized cross-validation (GCV) approach for the present tire noise studies.     

Complexes of copper and silver with tetracyanobiimidazole

We have recently reported the synthesis and properties of a remarkable new ligand 4,4′,5,5′-tetracyano-2,2′-biimidazole (H₂Tcbiim).¹ This acidic ligand readily binds metal ions in its dianionic form and appears to act as a strong pi acceptor. Its use as a quadridentáte bridging ligand allows study of metal-metal interactions through a planar conjugated system and extends earlier work by us² and by Hendrickson and coworkers³ on 2,2′-biimidazole. In this communication we report on the reactions of H₂Tcbiim with Ag(I), Cu(I) and Cu(II) salts.